Amalgamator



F. M. LWS. AMALGAMATOR. APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 3o, 1919.

2 SHEETS-SHEET I.

F. W1. LEWISr AMALGAMATOR.

APPucATioN FILED SEPT. 3o, 1919.

'Patented 0015.519120.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

UNITED STATES PATENT QFFICE.

FRANCIS M. LEWISf OF SEATTLE, WASHINGTON, .ASSIGNOR TOY AUGUSTUS J'.SORGE, OE SEATTLE. WASHINGTON.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Applcationfrled. September 30, 1919. Serial No. 327,468.

T0 all 107mm it may concern: l

Be it known' that FRANCIS M. Lnwis, a citizen of the United States,residingat Seattle, in the county of King andl State of Vashington, haveinvented certain'ne-w and useful Improvements in Amalgamators, of whichthe following is aspecification.

This invention relates to means for recovering from water or semi-liquidmaterial gold and other valuable products, Vand the object of theinvention is t0 provide means of novel construction whereby the recoveryof the valuable elements will be accomplished automatically in acontinuously operating process. The invention is illustrated in theaccompanying drawings and consists in certain novel features whichwillbe particularly pointed out in the claims following a detaileddescription.

In the drawings- Figure 1 is an elevation of'an amalgamator embodying myimprovements, partsbeing broken away andparts in section;

Fig. 2 is an end elevation with parts broken away and'v in section;

' Fig. 3 is a detail perspective view of a head block;

Fig. 4 is a detail perspective view of a partition.

ln carrying'out the invention, I employ a tank consisting of end plates1 which are held against separation by transverse bars or rods 2inserted therethrough at intervals and having threaded ends upony whichclamping nuts 3 are mounted. Between the said sideplates, a bottom plate4 is held, the said bottom plate'being of'any suitable material and soshaped that it'will clear the securing'rods 2 as will be readilyunderstood. This bottom plate is also shaped to provide a rearamalgamating chamber 5' and a forward receiving chamber 6, as clearlyshown in Fig. 2. An amalgamating plate within the amalgamating chamber 5and extends from the front wall of the same over an intermediatebridging portion 8 of the bottom platev 4, this'amalgamat- `ing platebeing so shapedl as to fit closely rear walls of rthe amalgamatingchamber and forming a Vcomplete lining for the same. The, concentratesor material to be treated in the amalgamator is fed into theamalgamating chamber through a hopper 9 which is supported'upon the tankat or near thev rear side of the to the front and same and is lheldagainst displacement by rods lOlfittedin eyes 11 upon the tank and thehopper, as clearly shown, it being noted that upper and lower eyes areprovided upon the ends of the hopper so that one or more brace rods maybe used as may be deemed desirable. To provide for an even distributionof the concentrates or other material and to permit the use ofrelatively small amalgamating plates which may be conveniently handled,the amalgamating chamber is preferably divided into a plurality ofcompartments by partitions 12 dis* posed transversely ofthe chamber orlongitudinally of the amalgamatory and these ypartitions are providedintermediate their front` and rear edges with upwardly projectingtongues 13 through which a clamping rod Patented Oct. 5, 1920.`

14 may pass, the said rodalso passing through the ends of the tank so asto aid in securing the several parts together. The provision of theupwardly proj ectingtongue 13 also -produces a shoulder 15 in rear ofthe tongue upon which the lower end of the hopper may rest.V Between thepartitions,- I provide head blocks 16 which in their upper portionsareequal in thickness to the width of the tongues 13-of the partitions sothat the front andrear sides of the head blocks will be flush with thefront and rear edges of said tongues and the head blocksl may be held inplace'by the same rods14 which secure the partitions. 'Addr tional rods17 similar in allrespects to the rods 14, are inserted throughthe'lo-wer portions of the head blocks and the partitions and when thenuts on the ends of the several rods are turned home the ends of thetank, the head blocks, and the partitions will be firmly clampedtogether so that water-tight joints will be effected. It will be readilynoted uponreference to Fig. 2 that the front and rear walls of thehopper atl the lower end thereof lit against the upper ends of the headblocks land the projectingY tongues of the partitions and against therear wall of the tank, respectively, and to secure the hopper in placeso that a water-tight joint around the lower end of the same will beeffected, l provide the rod 18 which is inserted through the end wallsof the tank and so located that it bears against the front sides of thehead blocks and forces them against the hopper, winged nuts A19 beingfitted upon the threaded ends of the rod t longitudinally of the andturned home against the walls of the tank to firmly secure the parts.The lower portions of the `head blocks are enlarged and provided withcurved surfaces, as shown at 20, whereby the material passing throughthe amalgamating chamber 5 will bedeected toward and held against theamali Ygamating plate and the amalgamation of the valuable particleswith the said plate will be facilitated. In the lower ends of the headblocks and thepartitions, I provide alined slots'or notches 2lA and 22which accommo.

date a dam lor bridge plate 23 extending amalgamating` chamber andthrough, the said slots. Near the ends of this dam or bridge plate andnear the upper edge of the same, l provide openings 24 which are engagedby the lower hooked` and the partitions. Itwill be readily understoodthat by adjusting the nuts 27, the lower edgel of the plate 23 may beset closer to or farther from the bottom of the amalv gamating chamberso that the flow of material through the amalgamating chamber and underthe Vdam may be regulated. It will, of course, be understood thatmercury, indicated at 29, is placed in the amalgamating chamber andsettles at the bottom' of thezsame so that the lower portionof the plate,23 will be submerged and the mercury forms a seal which tends toprevent flow of material under the dam.

The -construction and arrangement of the several parts of the apparatusbeing thus made known, it is thought the operation will be readilyunderstood. The concentrates or material Vto be; treated is fed throughthe hopper. and descends at once to the several compartments of theamalgamating chamber and is deflected toward the rear wall thereof bythe head blocks. At the beginning of the operation, the weight of themercury will be greater than the weight of the water and theconcentrates suspended therein so thatfthe material will be held backuntil its weight exceeds'the weight of the mercury, whereuponthe-mercury will be forced toward the front of the chamber up againstthe amalgamating plate and the `water and concentrates will tend to flowunder the dam. The result of this movement will be to set up a whirlingor eddying motion in the mercury andthe water, so that the water andconcentrates will be commingled with the mercury and the increasingweight of the concentrates as the feeding continues will force the samethrough the mercury and spread the mercury on the amalgamating plate sothat'the plate will be'kept moist with mer.-

cury automatically. The whirling, eddying motion will carry the valuableheavier particles against and amalgamate them with the amalgamatingplate 7 while the lighter pai'- ticles and the impurities will be washed7( from the mercury by the water and will pass over the bridge 7 intothe receptacle 6, the water eventually overflowing from said receptaclewhile any valuable particles which may have been retained therein willbe deposited at the bottom of the receptacle as a sediment. As thevaluable particles are removed from the water, the weight of thewaterand the concentrates at the rear ofthe head blocks will decreaseand such decrease in weight will permit the mercury to return to itsinitial normal position which it will retain until the weight of thewater and the concentrates again exceeds the weight of 'the mercury,whereupon the mercuryl will be again forced to the front of theamalgamating chamber. This alternating movement or circulation will bekept up continuously until the-supply of concentrates has been exhaustedor until all of the mercury* has been amalgamated with the valuableparticles and the amalgamating plate whereupon the amalgamating platemay be removed and the valuable matter recovered in the usual manner.

Y It will be readily noted thatmy apparatus operates automatically aslong as material is fed into vrthehopper and requires no attention vupon-the part of the operator during the amalgamating process. The valuableparticles contained in the Vwater or semiliquid material will berapidly` and 'thor-V oughly separated from the material and theimpurities which may be present in the mercury will be washed therefromby the constantly flowing water so that the ultimate product will beYpractically free of all impurities. The apparatus is very simple inconstruction and may be rapidly and economically set up and operated.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new is:

l. An amalgamator comprising end plates, a bottom plate disposed betweenthe end plates and forming a rear amalgamating chamber, a 'frontreceptacle and a bridge connecting the chamber and receptacle, clampingrods inserted through the end plates below the bottom plate and securingthe parts firmly together, a removable amal# gamating plate forming alining for the amalgamating chamber and extending over the bridge at thefront of the same, means Vfor delivering concentrates at the top of theamalgamating chamber and at the rear of .L25 the same, and means fordirecting the concentrates onto the amalgamating plate.

2. An amalgamator comprising end plates, an amalgamating chamber securedbetween Athe end plates, partitions extending across the Vamalgamatingchamber and provided with shoulders at their upper ends in their rearportions, head blocks disposed within the amalgamating chamber betweenthe partitions, a hopper resting upon the shoulders oi the partitionsbetween the upper ends of the head blocks and the rear wall of theanialgamating chamber, and means for securing the head blocks, thepartitions, and the hopper together.

8. An amalgamator comprising an amalgamating chamber, partitionsextending across the said chamber and having upwardly projecting tonguesintermediate their 'ront and rear edges, head blocks disposed within theamalgamating chamber between the partitions and having the front andrear faces of their upper portions flush with the edges of the tonguesin the partitions, a hopper having its lower end resting andthe rearwall oi' the amalgamating chamber.

4. An ainalgamator comprising an amalgamating chamber, partitionsextending across said chamber and having slots in their lower ends, headhlocks disposed within the chamber between the partitions and havingslots in their lower ends alining with the slots in the partitions, adam extending longitudinally of the amalgamating chamber through theslots in the head blocks and the partitions, and suspension devicescarrying said dam and adjustahly iitted through some of the head blocks.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature.

FRANCIS M. LEWIS. [n s]

